July 2015

Have you needed to write to a SPList on a remote target farm? Get-SPSite works great locally, but remote scenarios need different techniques. The below PowerShell will write to a SharePoint list remotely over HTTP using the SOAP endpoint “Lists.asmx” by sending XML with the action detail (insert command and field values).

Have you worked on a standard SP2013 Team Site then recognized a need to activate BI features. The BI Center template comes with a lot preloaded. I used that baseline to compare Activated Features and got the list below.

Running this PowerShell will enable the same features so you can apply BI work to any other base template (Team Site, Community, etc.) Cheers!

As we get closer to the August release of SharePoint 2016 Preview I wanted to create a local virtual machine and try things out. Below are steps with dozens of screenshots. Now I’m ready for the big day to install.

Ideally matching the latest generation of all Microsoft products will give a more integrated experience. Often in the past I’ve seen where features are disabled or less than optimal if another software layer is older. For example, SharePoint 2013 Business Intelligence has many features which only work with SQL 2012. Yes, you can run older SQL 2008R2 but some features will be missing.

Server Manager – AD and GUI

Promote Domain

Create Service Accounts

Install SQL 2016

Ready for SharePoint 2016

Ever wondered what fixes are inside of a given CU? Please see attached PDF with full detail.

I wanted a new format for easy reading. Show management and make the business case for why downtime should be taken to apply CUs.

As much time as I spend patching SharePoint even I never really dig into KB article fix detail. However, this makes it easier to see everything without obscure click from one Microsoft article to the next buried layers deep. If you found this helpful, please leave a comment.